Skirt or trouser hanger and stretcher



Aug. 23, 1966 E. HOBl SKIRT OR TROUSER HANGER AND STRETCHER Filed June 12, 1963 Fig.1

c7 Ernsf Hqbi Fig.12 5b INVENYOR 8b BY Attorney United States Patent 3,268,128 SKIRT 0R TROUSER HANGER AND STRETCHER Ernst Hobi, Alte Landstrasse 69, Oberrieden, Zurich, Switzerland Filed June 12, 1963, Ser. No. 287,288 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-96) This invention relates to a skirt or trouser hanger and stretcher, comprising two hanging bars guided one on the other and two holders for the garment to be hung, together with a spring member which tends to keep the hanging bars in the spread position.

Garment stretchers of this general construction are known; the one according to the invention difiers from these in that the hanging bars or arms are each bent through 180 degrees into a U-shape so as to form two legs or shanks which extend parallel to one another in spaced relation, each of these pairs of legs carrying linearly movable holding clamps whereby the legs of these clamps are guided on the bar legs by means of grooves so as to cause the clamps with the garment attached thereto to tilt under the action of said spring member, the clamps being thus held self-locked on the bars.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example one preferred form of embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a view of the hanger and stretcher with both the clamps and the bars in their respective end positions;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the device in FIG. 1, as taken on the line IIII, with the hanging bars pushed together;

FIG. 3 is a part-view to FIG. 1 on a larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a side view with a partial section taken on the line IV-IV of FIG. 3, the clamp being closed;

FIG. 5 is a corresponding side view with the clamp opened;

FIG. 6 shows a sectional view taken on the line VI-VI of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a side view of one leg of a clamp;

FIG. 8 is a view of the leg shown in FIG. 7 as seen from inside;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line ]XIX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the other clamp leg shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a view of the leg in FIG. 10 as seen from inside; and

FIG. 12 is a section taken on the line XII-XII of FIG. 11.

The skirt or trouser hanger and stretcher shown oomprises two U-shaped hanging bars 1 and 2 whose legs or shanks 1a and 2a rest against and overlap one another. The overlapping shanks 1a and 2a are surrounded by a tension coil spring 3 having at both ends turns 3a gradually reduced in diameter, whereby the final turn 3b (FIG. 2) provided at each end closely surrounds the bar ends 1b and 2b, respectively. The spring, besides being a stretch means, also serves as a guide for the hanging bars. On pushing the bars towards each other, as shown in FIG. 2, the coil spring 3 is tensioned. At its mid-point the spring 3 is traversed by a suspension hook 4, whose lower end extends downwardly between the two shanks 1a and 2a. At its lower extremity the hook 4 carries a rivet head 4a which engages the said shanks from below. The rivet-carrying lower end thereby lies within the spring turns, while the shank of the suspension hook 4 protrudes upwards through the turns of the tension spring 3. At their respective mid-points the holding bars 1, 2 are each bent through 180 degrees, thus forming the parallel shanks 1a, 10 and 2a, 2c, respectively. Each pair of shanks 1a, 1c and 2a, has arranged therebetween a holding clamp 5 for hanging ice skirts or trousers, the respective clamps 5 being slidably displaceable on the leg pairs in a lengthwise direction. The clamps each consist of two legs 5a and 5b, respectively and a spring-type circlip 6 holding them together. The legs each have transverse grooves 7 on their outsides by which they are guided on the shanks 1a, 10 and 2a, 2c. On their inner surfaces the legs 5 have interengaging ribs 8a and 8b, respectivley, to secure them against lateral displacement, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Between the ribs 8a and 8b the legs are each provided with a longitudinal slot 9 adapted to receive a circlip 6 holding the legs 5a, 5b together. Circlip 6 tends to spread out the clip legs and thus to keep the clip closed. The pressure exerted by the spring ends 6a of circlip 6 upon the legs 5a, 5b further produces a friction pressure between the clip legs and the hanging bars 1, 2 thus opposing to a certain extent the lengthwise displacement of the clips on the shanks.

In the extreme extended positions of the hanger and stretcher shown in FIG. 1, the two clamps may be moved toward or away from each other against the force of a certain sliding friction. By suitably adjusting the clamps, the trousers or skirts can be readily gripped with the latter and, after securing the garment the spring 3 can be tensioned while pressing the bars 1, 2 together and sliding the clamps outwards simultaneously. The spring then exerts a lengthwise thrust on the bars 1, 2 .or clamps 5, thus stretching the garment thereon. At the same time the lengthwise thrust of spring 3 tilts the clamps 5 seated on the bars and thus secures the clamps on the bars against further displacement.

What I claim is:

1. A garment hanger and stretcher, comprising support means; a pair of elongated generally horizontal arms 1ongitudinally extending in opposite lateral directions from said support means and longitudinally shiftable relative to one another and to said support means; respective clamps slidably displaceable on each of said arms outwardly of said support means for releasably holding a garment, said arms each including a pair of parallel horizontally spaced shanks, each of said clamps including a pair of pivotable members each mounted upon a re spective shank of a respective arm, each of said members having a longitudinally extending trough-shaped groove receiving said shanks and being defiectable upon attachment to a garment to lock against the respective shank; and spring means urging said arms outwardly from said support means.

2. A garment hanger and stretcher, comprising support means including an upright rod having its upper end formed into a hook; a pair of elongated generally horizontally U-shaped arms longitudinally extending in opposite lateral directions from said support means; respective clamps slidably displaceable on each of said arms outwardly of said support means for releasably holding a garment, said arms each including a pair'of parallel laterally spaced shanks and respective bights at longitudinally opposite extremities thereof, said clamps each including a pair of pivotable members each mounted upon one shank of a respective arm, said members being formed with respective longitudinal grooves and said shanks being received therein for guiding said clamps on 'said arms, said clamps each being provided with respective springs urging its members into frictional engagement with the respective shanks; and springs means urging said arms outwardly from said support means.

3. A garment hanger and stretcher, comprising support means including an upright rod having its upper end formed into a hook; a pair of elongated general-1y horizontal U-shaped arms longitudinally extending in opposite lateral directions from said support means; respective clamps slidably displaceable on each of said arms 3 outwardly of said support means for releasably holding a garment, said arms each including a pair of parallel laterally spaced shanks and respective bights connecting the shanks of each arm at longitudinally opposite extremities thereof, a first shank of each arm being received between both shanks of the other arm, the free ends of said first shanks being transversely deformed in opposite directions and into contact with one another thereby forming a pair of stops for preventing a longitudinal disengagement of said arms; an elongated coil spring surrounding said first shank; respective clamps slidably displace'able on each of said arms, said clamps each including a pair of juxtaposed members formed with respective longitudinally extending trough-shaped grooves on opposite external sides thereof, said shanks being received in said grooves for guiding said clamps, said members being pivotable about the respective shanks and being formed with throughgoing openings above and below the respective pivotal axes, and respective annular spring clips extending through said openings for urging said members into a normally closed garment-retaining position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,281,842 5/1942 Isaacson 22395 2,357,496 9/1944 Boe et al. 223-95 2,473,408 6/1949 Alkin 22396 2,613,857 10/1952 Pechtel 223-9l FOREIGN PATENTS 355,587 8/ 1961 Switzerland.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A GARMENT HANGER AND STRETCHER, COMPRISING SUPPORT MEANS; A PAIR OF ELONGATED GENERALLY HORIZONTAL ARMS LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING IN OPPOSITE LATERAL DIRECTIONS FROM SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND LONGITUDINALLY SHIFTABLE RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER AND TO SAID SUPPORT MEANS; RESPECTIVE CLAMPS SLIDABLY DISPLACEABLE ON EACH OF SAID ARMS OUTWARDLY OF SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR RELEASABLY HOLDING A GARMENT, SAID ARMS EACH INCLUDING A PAIR OF PARALLEL HORIZONTALLY SPACED SHANKS, EACH OF SAID CLAMPS INCLUDING A PAIR OF PIVOTABLE MEMBERS EACH MOUNTED UPON A RESPECTIVE SHANK OF A RESPECTIVE ARM, EACH OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING TROUGH-SHAPED GROOVE RECEIVING SAID SHANKS AND BEING DEFLECTABLE UPON ATTACHMENT TO A GARMENT TO LOCK AGAINST THE RESPECTIVE SHANK; AND SPRING MEANS URGING SAID ARMS OUTWARDLY FROM SAID SUPPORT MEANS. 